Congress passed a bill to stop a strike on railroads and prevent workers from striking Friday morning. President Joe Biden signed it.
Biden signed the bill, even though he has a long history supporting railway workers and trains, to stop their strike threat.
According to President Obama, it is a “tough”decision to sign the bill, but it was rejected by the “right thing to do at the moment.”
“A rail shutdown would have devastated our economy,” Biden warned.
The president pushed the issue back to Congress earlier this week and turned his back on negotiations, even though he was a key dealmaker in September when he made a deal to delay the strike until after midterm elections.
Director of Made in America in the Office of Management and Budget Celeste Drake and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wait to see U.S. president Joe Biden arrive in Washington DC. They will sign bipartisan legislation to prevent the strike of rail workers in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, on December 2, 2022 in Washington. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty)
Railroad workers planned to strike December after their employers refused to pay more sick leave.
“Look I know this bill doesn’t have paid sick leave,”Biden repeated his support for it, saying that he did so for all American workers.
“That fight isn’t over,”He promised.
Biden also praised his track record in the economy, and celebrated lower gasoline prices and solid unemployment reports for November.
“Things are moving. We’re moving in the right direction,”He stated.
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